In Retrospect
by komodo-Dags
Summary: Trapped between a Night Fury and an injured leg, Hiccup is thrown into an adventure to be freed from the kidnapping dragon and return home. But is life really any better there? (Twisted version of the movie)/Please R&R!/
1. Poor, Poor, Hiccup

In retrospect, cutting the Night Fury loose had not been a good idea. But on the same note, one could argue that nothing Hiccup did was ever a good idea.

Once again the boy had forgotten at the most important of moments how his life hung from such a thin and delicate thread as he pulled the old dagger from his coat and crouched at the side of the dragon. The one he had shot down just hours before and had searched for with the full intention of tearing its heart from its body and carrying the treasure proudly back for his father and the whole village to see.

Finally to prove that he was worth more than the talking fish-bone he was constantly compared to.

But it had all been a cruel illusion. Suddenly his whole life of striving to become _someone_ was tossed into an endless pit. It seemed as though this had been the god's chance for him to make something of himself. Their way of saying, 'We're sorry you're such a loser; here's a one-in-a-life-time shot at life.' And he, being the person he was, had blown it.

Over what? Feeling sorry for the beast. As Hiccup had raised the weapon into the air, he had made one critical mistake which was opening his eyes a fraction on the terms of curiosity in the reaction of his first victim. He had seen the dragon's own piercing eyes, staring back at him; accepting it's fate with a sad yet fierce dignity. It had made him realize that he was about to actually _end a life_. That he was practically stripping freedom from the Night Fury and if the deed was done it would never fly free again. No matter how much fear seized the village when its name was called, he felt truly miserable for grounding it like this.

He just couldn't do it. Didn't have it in him.

That was when he began to cut the ropes. Suddenly, it was his one and only mission in life. But…he was still frightened. It looked so weak and had barely moved since he had gotten here, surely he could cut it loose and leave safely?

It was his only hope as the last bind fell limp and he teetered back unsteadily, ready to run.

But obviously not ready enough.

Within seconds, two enormous black clawed paws slammed into the human's chest and pinned the small body to a nearby boulder. Hiccup didn't even have time to yell before he was once again staring into the dragon's eyes, only they were now triumphant and deadly. Now they held the power to doom its captor.

Heart pounding like a drum, Hiccup gasped for breath, unaware of his bodies' wild and fearful convulsions. It was obvious that he was going to pay for his actions; for not killing the thing. He was going to die right here and now, there was no doubt in his flickering mind.

The pressure of the dragon's paws was lifted from his chest as it slowly reared up on two powerful back legs, mouth opening for what could be the death blow…

…But something else happened instead. Not something much better than the alternative, but as the boy curled into a fetal position, he took a last glance up at the Night Fury.

It was horrifying to say the least when he saw one of those paws coming down straight for his face. He couldn't do anything about it, though. He didn't even get to squeak before the world lurched and swirled around him, turning the colors of the forest as black as the pelt of the dragon.

Hiccup slipped into a deep state of unconsciousness; completely unaware of anything that happened next.


	2. Trapped

Stoking the fire for the 7th time, Stoick the Vast waited patiently for his son to get home.

Normally he would be waiting so that he could yell at or scold the boy to his own heart's content for running off when he had specifically told him to go home and stay there, but the Chief had too many other things on his mind when it came to Hiccup at the moment.

Hiccup…Oh, Hiccup. His head practically throbbed when he thought of his little disaster. Yes, he did love his son, but sometimes he wondered why the gods had chosen to give him the excuse for a viking. Maybe…it had all been a joke to them. A good laugh to keep the mood light.

Either that or Hiccup was some kind of punishment from them for a past wronging left undone. That certainly seemed more believable.

He lifted his eyes to the ceiling at the memory of what he was truly waiting to tell the boy. It was going to excite him, for sure.

He had agreed with Gobber to let him go into dragon training while he was away, searching for the dragon nest. It had been difficult to even make Stoick agree, but eventually the other had made too many good points and he had been forced to think about Hiccup's future and how training would prepare him for it…unless it killed him, of course.

No, no thinking about that.

Giving the fire another experimental prod, he sighed deeply. It really was getting late; where was his son? He'd give it another hour or two before leaving for the docks.

When that hour passed uneventfully, Stoick, who had grown rather irritated, stood and glared at the front door, muttering a quiet, "Fine…" If Hiccup didn't want to go to dragon training, it was fine with him. The boy could spend all night outside in that deadly cold for all he cared.

And, with that pleasant mind-set, he grabbed his basket and marched out of the house.

He hoped Hiccup would realize what he'd missed out on.

* * *

Pain. Numbing, groggy pain.

It was the only thing Hiccup could register at first as he began to come to. He felt sluggish and could barely move his arms or legs. His head felt like someone had taken a knife and was slowly digging into the side of it.

Then, he jolted and his eyes flew open as memories suddenly flooded into his head. The dragon, cutting it free, being attacked…then what? Better yet, why was he still alive?

He stared, wide-eyed, up at the sky. Everything was so…quiet. Like it all hadn't happened. Had he been dreaming? Had he died?

Wind blew gently at the side of his face, a few branches rustled peacefully in the distance, and the chirping of a small bird echoed nearby. Something had to be wrong. He knew he really should get up and figure out what was going on, but he felt so sore, so tired, and so weak.

Relaxing a bit, he reached up with a leaded arm and brushed the side of his head, wincing as his fingers ran over a swollen bump. Well, that meant that it hadn't been a dream, and he couldn't be dead, either. Maybe the dragon didn't like scrawny humans for breakfast.

In spite of his pain, he gave a short, huffy laugh.

However, the laugh jerked silent as a sudden growl filled his ears, vibrating through his body all the way down to his feet. His blood went cold and his limbs stiffened again. That sound had to belong to…a dragon.

He wondered if he dared move as a wave of hot breath washed over him. If it was that close, then what would be the point? Would it be worth it to make a break for it just to be eaten, or just lay here hopelessly? Was the thing even intending to eat him? Wouldn't it have had to already if it had wanted to?

Pulling a shred of bravery from the little he had at the moment, Hiccup drew his head back and carefully turned to look.

The Night Fury. Laying right there in full glory, teeth bared slightly, and face close. It could have stopped the boy's heart if the two had not come into such close encounters earlier. Yet, he could not help but feel horribly curious. He had to be the first to ever witness this beast. Every myth and tale surrounding this dragon was full of wonder and mystery. He had grown up listening to such stories and even from a young age he had longed to learn more. Hiccup had always hated not knowing things. Perhaps that was why he had always been such a handful.

His mouth opened and closed several times, but he just couldn't bring himself to say anything, no matter how senseless, and for a few minutes the viking and the dragon just stared at each other. Both making no move for the longest of time.

Slowly, the Night Fury's hackles lay flat and its teeth vanished before it stood and made a deep throaty noise.

"H-hello…" Hiccup's voice was very small and his greeting was only answered by an annoyed snarl as it shuffled around the small human carefully, as if it was disgusted in him and afraid of catching some kind of deadly disease.

More hot breath blew over him as it continued its awkward game of stepping stones around him.

After a few more moments of this, Hiccup realized that he was feeling much better. Part of that was the fact that he was oddly feeling…safer now. A part of him told himself that enough time had passed that he should know that the dragon was not going to devour him, but another part argued the opposite.

Moving in such a way not to startled, he placed both hands in the soft dirt on both sides of himself and pushed up, lifting his upper torso off of the ground. His head briefly spun again and he wondered if he had acquired a small concussion. It sure felt like it.

He moaned, but his voice was drowned out by another throaty noise from the Night Fury, who leaned in near to him again, eyes narrowed. It almost seemed as though it was trying to talk to him. Or thought it was talking to him.

Nervous, Hiccup tried to stand up, but was thrown down again when the creature's head connected with his own, "Ow…." He rubbed at the swollen spot and stared up, then swallowed hard.

The look on its face had changed. Very dark and smug. And in that instant, words seemed to form from its rumbles.

'_You're not going anywhere…'_

Hiccup just hoped that his Father would come to realize how much help he needed.


	3. Dragon Words

_Hey, guys! I want to thank you all for all the reviews and encouragement. Since Christmas and visiting family is around the corner, I decided to make an extra long chapter. Of course, since it worked out so well and story will be building, future chapter may be just as long or longer. Next update might be in a little while, though._

_Anyway, Merry Christmas!_

* * *

A day. A whole day had Hiccup been lying on the ground on his back, wishing in vain for some kind of deliverance from his dragon captor.

By this point the boy had gotten over his wonder in the beast and had started to grow annoyed and restless. It had taken to lying directly beside him, always seeming to have one of its poisonous eyes on him. He no longer felt fearful for his life, although the prospect of being smacked around loomed in his mind. It seemed as though as long as he stayed still (for the most part) he wasn't going to be bothered with. But it was the hardest thing, he was sure, that he had ever had to do in his life. He had always found it hard to stay in one place.

Everyone had always told him that he needed to relax. Take a rest. Of course, most of these comments came from people of the village who were sick of his impatient, curious behavior and were more thinking along the lines of tying him to a mast for a few days with a blindfold and a gag. Thank Thor, during Hiccup's worst timed moments, Stoick usually spoke up before a riot could start and the imagery became a reality.

Thoughts vaguely flittering in and out of his head, he began to pry the bark off of a nearby stick, purely out of boredom. His fingers had always had the hardest time of all staying still.

A slight ache still was centered on his head, but part of it now was his own hunger. Hiccup didn't usually eat much, but what he did sustained him for many hours. He winced as his stomach protested loudly over the unfairness of the situation.

The Night Fury lifted its head to stare at him. It looked as though it was debating something as it started to stand and stretch.

Hiccup watched hopefully. Maybe it would leave and let him be so he could go home and make up some excuse for why he had been missing. He knew that at least Gobber would question. The other kids might, but it would probably be more of a mockery than an honest question. It could only be expected.

"Are-are you leaving?" He was losing his mind, talking to a dragon. Then again, speaking to most people in the village could be considered just as pointless when it came to him.

It huffed, shaking its wide head thoughtfully before its enormous wings slowly started to spread, blotting out Hiccup's view of the sky. Excitement built up within him as he realized that it WAS leaving.

In a powerful gust of wind that pinned him momentarily to the ground, the dragon flew like a bullet across the forest and out of view. It was the most heavenly sight he had ever witnessed. He was free.

"Bye!" A cheerful call went up after it as Hiccup, for the first time in the whole day, made to stand up.

Only, it didn't work. He gasped and buckled as a sharp pain suddenly shot up through his left leg, blinding him for a moment as he once again lay limply on the forest floor. After a short time, he groaned, sitting up carefully as to not put any weight on his aching appendage and felt gingerly over it. Was it…broken? Or just sprained?

A sudden swell of misery filled him as he thought of trying to make it back home like this. Moving at such a slow, painful pace would surely draw attention from more dangerous animals of the forest. He'd be killed before he even made it home. Yet another hope flushed down the drain.

And now what?

He swallowed back some tears as a much more helpless feeling filled his heart. The only source of protection, the Night Fury, had left him and now he was completely vulnerable to the harsh surroundings of the outdoors. He was alone and no one knew where he was. Would they even care? How should he know.

What a day. It had been all over the place and had ended like this. It reminded him of other stories he had heard of adventures that came out badly. Those stories had used to startled him or even make him mad. He had used to write alternative endings to those stories just to calm himself.

Even though this had been barely an adventure there would be no re-writing the ending. It was inevitable.

* * *

"Well done, Astrid! Keep that up, and there'll be no doubt in my mind who's this week's winner."

Panting heavily, but proudly, the girl lifted her head to give the speaker, Gobber, a confident smirk. She still clutched the trusty axe that had won the round in both of her hands and the unfortunate Gronckle was limping back to its cage, not wanting anything more to do with the Viking girl today.

By far, Astrid Hofferson was out passing the other students who were beginning to slowly return to their positions in front of Gobber from wherever they had fallen or hidden during ring time with the dragon.

The burly trainer moved past them, waving a hand vaguely in their direction, "Head on home now, but don't forget to come to the Great Hall tonight for dinner…"

It took a moment of watching him leave the arena before all of the trainees had caught their breath.

"Did you see how long I lasted?" Snotlout was the first to speak, "If the sun hadn't got in my eyes, I'll bet I could have made it to the end."

Tuffnut laughed, "Yeah, right! If my sis hadn't distracted m-"

"Distracted you?" Ruffnut growled, "How 'bout I give you some more distractions?!" Apparently she hadn't expelled enough energy while tumbling with her twin during ring time, because she leapt right onto him again, starting the fight all over again. No one dared try and break them up. It was pointless and dangerous.

"What now?" Fishlegs turned hopefully to the others. The husky boy practically depended on everyone else to think up some entertainment.

Astrid wasn't at all interested and began to walk off. Snotlout quickly cut her off, standing directly between her and her exit, "So, Astrid…did you think about my offer?"

She grimaced, "About working out in your parent's basement?" She couldn't believe that he was still trying.

"Well, yeah, but…" He leaned forward a bit, giving a quick wink, "We could do _other _stuff if you wanted to…"

She wanted to barf. And slap him. But she managed to keep her temper under control, "I'd rather eat dragon dung." With that, she left the arena, hearing the stunned silence that followed.

It served him right. He was a proud idiot without any clue as to how anyone's feelings but his own worked, nor did he ever seem to care. There was no way she would ever be attracted to a brute and that was that.

She made her way back into the village and headed towards home, thinking about how proud her parents would be of her when they came back. Especially her mother. It almost made her smile. Almost.

A sharp 'clang' re-directed her attention from the house to the Blacksmith shop. Gobber's large frame was easy to spot inside. In his hands was a magnificent double-edged sword, tip gleaming from the rays of the mid-afternoon sun. He looked happy enough, but she noticed that something was…off. His eyes were deep in helpless thought, as if musing over an unanswerable question and his movements were slower and less deliberate.

She knew what was wrong. It was the reason why the birds were chirping, why the houses were standing, and why there was not one fire in sight: Hiccup was nowhere to be found.

The village pest had completely vanished only a day ago and while he had been known for leaving for hours at a time; never whole days. It was completely unlike him. He was usually seen following her and the other kids from a distance, working in the shop, or just being a nuisance. Whenever he did leave he almost always was back to eat at least before heading out again. This time was different. No one had seen head or tails of him for nearly two days.

Some people were thanking the gods, while others, like herself and Gobber, were wondering where he'd gone off to. And if he'd ever come back.

Although, there was one good thing that accompanied his disappearance. According to Gobber, the boy would have been in training with the rest of them for some bizarre reason she couldn't comprehend. That would have surely been a disaster and would have probably slowed her down.

So, it was better in a way that he was gone.

* * *

Hiccup had been in that clearing for a few more hours now, succumbing to sleep and the comfort that was brought with it. Although he had been scared (terrified, actually), it was just too easy to become drowsy when one was lying on a bed of soft grass, in the middle of a pleasant afternoon, when the sun's light warmed him, but didn't cause him to feel hot.

Unpleasantly enough, he startled awake as a thunderous sound filled his ears. His wide eyes took no time in darting around, searching for the source of the racket only to see-

The Night Fury?

He was both amazed and confused as it landed only a distance away and stared at him calmly. Had it known that his leg was hurt? Was that why it had felt comfortable with leaving him? He had to give it mental credit for cleverness, but he was still a little irritated and wary.

It began to step towards him, its hulking figure towering above his own as he cringed and tried to slide himself backwards. His back pressed up against a tree and he felt that helpless feeling return. Now he was cornered.

He jumped as the dragon's throat gave a hack and started shaking, its head now directly over him. Its eyes rolled back into its head and with a sudden burst of saliva, a half-eaten fish carcass landed smack-dab into his lap with a delightful 'squelching' sound to boot.

It tipped itself back until it was leaning all its weight onto its haunches and stared at him sternly.

At first, Hiccup was without a clue of what it wanted. He sat there awkwardly, busying himself by glancing about his surroundings, but a snort pulled his attention back to the beast. As if demonstrating, it pretended to swallow something and then looked directly at the slimy fish, then back to him.

It would take a complete moron not to understand what it wanted. As hungry as he was, the boy had little to no interest in eaten this disgusting offering. Spit dripped off the sides and seeped into his clothes. The fish's hollow eyes stared at him and its mouth hung wide open.

"N-no thanks…" He set it on the ground beside himself and wiped his hand off on his tunic.

That did not appear to be the right answer. The Night Fury snarled and walked closer, shoving the fish back onto his lap, then sitting back with an even sterner glare.

Again, he pushed it off, "I'm not hungry, honest! Y-you can have it, if you want." His body tensed as, for the second time, words seemed to form from the dragon's rumbles.

'_You will eat it.'_

He stared right into its eyes as an odd realization hit him, "F-fine…" He carefully lifted the mangled meal and hesitantly took a bite. Chewing, chewing, nearly hurling, and then swallowing. His stomach rejoiced, but his mouth hated him.

* * *

"_Daddy!"_

_Stoick, amidst the terror and horror of a vicious dragon raid, stopped dead mid-kill. It couldn't be… He searched around wildly, but he didn't need to go far. His son, the nimblest 7 year-old in the village, was running towards him, arms spread out._

_The Chief was only shocked for a moment before regaining his senses and snatching up the little bundle with one hand, "What in Thor's name are you doing outside?!" He practically hollered, brandishing his sword at an approaching Monstrous Nightmare, who back-tracked and went for a less intimidating man._

_Hiccup barely seemed to notice any of what was going on. In fact, a small smile was lighting his face, "There was a dragon in the house, Daddy!"_

_Stoick gasped and shouted to another man, "Hold my place!" It was all he needed to say as he headed back towards his house, Hiccup still in hand. Preparing for the worst, he slammed open the door and grabbed an enormous axe off of the wall, ready to wallop off the head of any beast that dare take a step into his home._

_But instead, a Terrible Terror gave a shriek of dismay and tried to hide, only ending up cornering itself._

_He sighed and gave a sharp glare to his beaming son, "Son, that Terror would never hurt you. It's afraid of its own shadow!"_

"_I know!" Hiccup squirmed until his father let him down before running eagerly towards the scared little dragon, "I wanna keep it as a pet! Can I, Daddy?"_

"_Certainly not!" He seemed angered by the very idea and scowled down disapprovingly, "Hiccup, we do not keep dragons as pets. We kill them."_

"_Oh…" The little boy glanced sadly up, sensing his father's disappointment, "Sorry."_

_Stoick was about to scold him further, but Hiccup suddenly turned to the Terrible Terror and from his son's mouth came a series of squeaks, hisses and pops. The dragon returned the sounds more professionally, keeping its snaky eyes on the Chief._

_It was as if his heart had stopped in his chest. As if the world had stopped turning. As if Valhalla had stopped accepting Vikings._

_Stoick did not need to question what had happened; he knew and it took him a second to register. Only another second for his anger to boil over._

"_HICCUP." The booming voice practically made the little figure fall over, but one of his arms were caught by his furious father, "What were you doing, Hiccup?!"_

_Hiccup's mouth moved for a second, but made no noise. Only after a small shake was he able to form words, "I-I was j-just talking t-to it!"_

_There it was. Out of his own son's mouth. The cursed language of Dragonese, said to be sent as a punishment upon an individual by the gods. As if Hiccup wasn't bad enough._

"_We do NOT speak to dragons, son." His voice took a low and dangerous note. The Terror barely had time to think before the axe came down upon its head and killed it instantly, "We KILL them. Understand?"_

_Hiccup, beside himself with fright and tears, nodded quickly as he shivered._


End file.
